Blizzard Can't Catch Quest

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The referees were late arrivals at the game Saturday night, and so, apparently, were the New England Blizzard.

After waiting more than 30 minutes for the officials to show up, the Columbus Quest jumped all over the Blizzard with a 29-3 run over nine minutes of the first and second quarters.

New England later had a 21-4 run, but it only brought the Blizzard as close as eight before losing 94-74 to the Quest before a crowd of 3,682 at Battelle Hall. It was New England's fifth consecutive loss to the Columbus.

``I started to get really sick of our turnovers,'' said Blizzard center Shanda Berry, who had 13 points and six rebounds. ``It is just like giving them a basket. They're a team that likes to run, and we provided them with the chances to. After they got going, all we could do was sit back and watch.''

New England seemed determined to end its losing streak against the Quest, taking a 20-15 lead with 2 minutes, 31 seconds left in the first quarter.

That's when the mayhem started.

By the time Columbus' big run ended, the Quest held a 44-23 lead with 2:53 left in the half. New England's only points came from two free throws from Jones and one from Berry.

The Quest's surge included a 12-0 run to finish the first quarter. The run was keyed by Columbus' Tonya Edwards, who scored five of her game-high 26 points. The Quest led 49-28 at the half.

``We started out by playing our brand of basketball,'' said Blizzard coach Cliffa Foster, whose team is 8-16. ``Then we started to turn the ball over. When you do that against a team like Columbus, you're in trouble.''

Nikki McCray scored 23 points, Katie Smith 20 and Valerie Still 12 as Columbus (21-3) won its 12th consecutive home game and extended its lead in the Eastern Conference to 9 1/2 games.